Monday, January 27, 2014

Salt Through the Desert: Tuareg Salt Caravan

Salt is an important seasoning in our daily food. It gives
saltiness to match our own taste. From the Americas to Asia, every culture use
salt in their cuisine. For many, it becomes a life saver as it can preserve
food, from meat to vegetable. Mostly came from sea, salt is taken for granted
today. But back then it was a source of livelihood and wealth to a group of
people from northern Africa, the Tuaregs. They became merchants giving taste to
the food in the past.

Salt
before was a precious commodity, especially in Africa. It was considered white
gold. For the people living in desert, it was a preserver of meat and
other products. Besides giving taste to their food, it was a good that would
give them livelihood, especially the Tuaregs.

The
Tuaregs are northern African desert people. They occupy the vast Saharan
desert. They were used to nomadic life, moving from one location to another.
Because of the desert sands, they were not interested in agriculture. Because
of their nomadic life they learned to survive in the desert by fighting,
trading, and moving fast. They’re most favorite transportation was not the
horse, but the camel.

Because of their mobility and skills, the Tuaregs
were able to become the middle man for the salt trade in the massive
trans-Saharan trade.

As
stated, the salt trade was one part among the large trans-Saharan trade
centering on salt and gold. The trade began even during the time of the Ancient
Greeks and the Carthaginians. But what brought it into organized routes and
upsurge of trade was during the 8th to 9thcentury
when Islam arrived in Northern Africa and Muslim traders began to dominate the
Saharan trade. Major centers rose because of the trade. Cities like Timbuktu,
Gao, and Agadez flourished. Besides cities, mine centers also flourished. For
gold, the mines of Boure and Banduk flourished. Then for salt, the mines of
Taghaza dominated the industry in the 15thcentury
but then in 16th century the mine of Taodeni took the place.

There were
several trade routes used during the height of the trade. One particular trade
route used for the salt trade was from the salt mine of Taghaza or Taodeni to
Timbuktu. Tuaregs would only transverse the route twice a year. In order to
gain much in one trip, they formed huge caravans called Azalay composed of
2,000 to 4,000 or even more camels. Tuaregs would go to the salt mines. In the
mines, they took slabs of salt and cover it with mud that would serve as
protection from the elements and to keep it intact. After loading the cargo
into their camels, the journey would begin. The caravans would cross the desert
and pass different oases up until Timbuktu. During each stop in the oases, the
Tuaregs would trade their salt slabs for local perishable goods such as water,
dairy, and meat. After passing numbers of oases, as the caravan arrived in
Timbuktu, the Tuaregs traded their last slabs for other goods. In Timbuktu,
they trade salt for gold and bought goods including glass bracelets, textile,
dried herbs, and many more. As the transactions ended, the caravan then took
the same route back to the salt mines. Even during the return trip, they would
trade with the oases with goods that they bought from Timbuktu. As they
returned to the salt mines, they trades gold and what is left of goods from
Timbuktu for slabs of salt. After that, the journey began once again. Some
Tuaregs took the long journey and brought goods and gold towards the coastline
of northern Africa such as Morocco. After having traded goods from Timbuktu,
they returned to the mines and went again to another journey.

Many
became rich from the salt, as well as gold trade in Sahara. First of all, the
centers of trade became wealthy, such as Timbuktu. They build great mosque and
monuments to display wealth. Following the monuments, culture and intellect
developed. Intellectuals flocked the centers of trade. One such display of
moving of intellectuals was the visit of the famous Muslim traveler, Ibn
Battuta, to Timbuktu in 1352 where noted the splendors of the city generated
from salt. Another effect, empires grew to wealth because of taxes
generated by the trade. For example. The salt trade in Timbuktu and Gao was
dominated by the Mali Empire. From the 14thto
the 15thcentury, the empire
covered the city of Timbuktu and Gao thus controlling the trade. Later on, as
the empire fell into decay, the Tuaregs, under Akil al Malwal, moved in to take
the city in 1443. However, the lack of efficient rule caused the Tuareg hold of
Timbuktu to diminish. In 1468, the new powerful Songhai Empire took control of
the two major cities, henceforth, the salt trade as well.

The salt
trade, however, began to decline as slave became more coveted goods. Another
factor was the increase of trade by sea that made transport of salt by desert
less. As European colonies in Africa surged, borders were drawn and moving from
the once free area became divided by different borders of different European
powers, the salt trade further weakens. Today, the salt trade still existed.
However, modern trucks and roads brought the tradition of salt trade caravans
into the brink of extinction. The Tuaregs also continued to struggle to live
every day and to survive, just like their salt trade, struggling to survive as
well.